“. . . forever out of magic to all the grime and sweat and violence of the city,
the unceasing city, the million-footed city, and into America.”
Thomas Wolfe’s life and art were marked not only by the provincial towns of his youth but also by great cities of the world: New York, Boston, London, Munich, Berlin, Paris. Wolfe and his protagonists dreamed of wondrous golden cities only to discover the harsh realities of their “stony-hearted pavements.”
Gathering in Charlotte, city of the New South, we will consider the idea and the reality of cities in Thomas Wolfe’s experience as man and artist. Organizers of this fortieth annual meeting look forward to productive discussion of the city as subject, setting, or inspiration in Wolfe’s writing.
Our featured speakers will be novelist Wiley Cash, historian Tom Hanchett, and North Carolina Poet Laureate Shelby Stephenson. For brief bios, click here.
You may read or download the 2018 TWS Conference program, including all presentations and events, and you may register for the conference by mail or electronically.
Students whose proposals have been accepted for the conference may apply for travel grants from $100 to $500, depending on circumstances. Contact the TWS Grants Committee Chair, Joseph M. Flora.
Conference registration and sessions will be located in the Holiday Inn, Charlotte-Center City, 230 North College Street, Charlotte, NC 28202; (704) 335-5400. Guest room reservations at the $119 conference rate must be made by 4/30/18. Parking for hotel guests costs $18/day for self-parking and $24/day valet; parking passes for those not staying at the hotel cost $10/day with validation. Email [email protected] for more information.
(Charlotte Skyline image copyright yurkaimmortal–Can Stock Photo Inc.)